chakravarty anu
TRANSCRIPT
A NOVEL ARCHITECTURE FOR SUPPLY-REGULATED VOLTAGE-CONTROLLED OSCILLATORS
A Thesis
Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the
Degree Master of Science in the
Graduate School of The Ohio State University
By
Anu Chakravarty, B. E.
Electrical & Computer Engineering Graduate Program
* * * * *
The Ohio State University
2010
Thesis Committee:
Professor Mohammed Ismail, Adviser
Professor Waleed Khalil
c© Copyright by
Anu Chakravarty
2010
ABSTRACT
Voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) are critical components in the design of
phase-locked loops (PLLs) for a variety of applications such as high speed digital
communication systems, on-chip clock generators and RF transceivers. VCOs expe-
rience large supply noise variations due to digital switching currents. This degrades
the jitter performance of the VCO, thus limiting system performance.
Supply noise is a major concern in ring oscillators in particular, since the frequency
of a ring VCO is highly dependent on the supply voltage.
This thesis presents a novel power supply insensitive voltage controlled ring oscil-
lators. This thesis also discusses some previously adopted VCO buffer stage designs
implemented to achieve high supply noise rejection, and compares their results with
those achieved with the proposed architecture.
Based on the concepts developed in this thesis, a differential ring oscillator was
designed in a 0.13-um CMOS technology, to demonstrate the robustness against sup-
ply fluctuation. The VCO operates from 236.66 MHz to 373.33 MHz, and displays
complete rejection to power supply noise.
ii
This is dedicated to my family and friends
iii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to acknowledge the contributions of people who were very helpful and
supportive throughout my research here at The Ohio State University.
I extend my sincere appreciation and gratitude to my advisor Professor Mo-
hammed Ismail for providing me academic guidance and opportunity to perform
research at the Analog VLSI Laboratory. I am grateful to him for providing me con-
siderable freedom in defining and directing my research. And , am really thankful to
him for being a wonderful mentor.
I am also indebted to my co-advisor, Dr. Waleed Khalil, whose wisdom and
expertise have enabled the successful completion of my thesis. He has helped me
concentrate all my efforts on this work and has provided me constant encouragement
and confidence throughout my research. He has always been there to clear my doubts
and has always inspired me with his enthusiasm to do novel research.
A special thanks to Bou-Sleiman at the Analog VLSI Lab for his continued support
and helpful advice.
I would like to thank my friends at Columbus with whom I have had many in-
teresting discussions and who have made my time at the department enjoyable. I
would like to thank Sarang Vadnerkar, Harsha, Mansi, Bhalchandra and Subhash
in particular for their constant support and encouragement. It has been a pleasure
having all of you around.
iv
Finally, I would like to thank my family, my mother, my father and my sister for
their continued love and support. I am really grateful to them for providing me a
good home and for encouraging me to study as far as I can. I could not have asked
for better parents and am really thankful to them for never losing confidence in me,
even when I was beginning to doubt my own capabilities.
v
VITA
January 3, 1985 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Born - New Delhi, India
June 30, 2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .B.E. First Class with DistinctionElectrical and Electronics Engg.,Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology,New Delhi, India
September 2007 - December 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . The Analog VLSI Lab,The Ohio State University.
FIELDS OF STUDY
Major Field: Electrical and Computer Engineering
Studies in Analog and Mixed Signal Circuit Design : Prof. Mohammed Ismail
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Abstract . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii
Dedication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iii
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv
Vita . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vi
List of Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
List of Figures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x
Chapters:
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1 Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2 Previous Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.1 Maneatis Delay Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51.2.2 Self-Calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.3 Thesis Outline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2. Oscillator Theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1 Criteria for Oscillation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92.1.1 Magnitude Criterion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102.1.2 Phase Criterion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.2 Types of Oscillators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112.2.1 Ring Oscillators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112.2.2 LC-Oscillators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.3 Voltage-controlled Oscillators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142.4 Oscillator Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
vii
3. Previous Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
3.1 Maneatis Delay Cell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173.1.1 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.2 Wilson and Moon Calibration Technique - Sub-banding . . . . . . . 203.2.1 VCO Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223.2.2 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233.2.3 Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
4. Voltage-Controlled Oscillator Design and Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.1 VCO Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324.2 Filtering effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
4.2.1 Path from the output of the first stage to the input of thesecond stage: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.2.2 Path from the supply to the input of the delay stage: . . . . 404.3 Bias Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424.4 Bias Generation Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.4.1 Derivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444.4.2 Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.5 Digital Calibration Block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 464.6 Simulation Results . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.6.1 Simulation @ VCTRL = 50 mV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 494.6.2 Simulation @ VCTRL = 200 mV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4.7 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
5. Future Work and Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
5.1 Design Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 535.2 Future Extensions and Major Contributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.2.1 Resistor tun-ability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555.2.2 Increasing the frequency of operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 555.2.3 Sub-banding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Appendices:
A. Complete Circuit Schematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
viii
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
3.1 Effect of supply variation on frequency (KFV SUP ) . . . . . . . . . . . 29
4.1 Variation of frequency with change in supply @ VBIAS = 0 volts . . . 37
4.2 Bias Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
4.3 Bias voltage variation to maintain constant oscillation frequency . . . 43
4.4 Variation of frequency with change in supply @ VCTRL = 50 mV . . . 50
4.5 Variation of frequency with change in supply @ VCTRL = 200 mV . . 51
ix
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Page
1.1 Ring Oscillator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Differential Ring Oscillator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 LC-Tank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.4 LC-VCO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.5 Maneatis Delay Cell with Symmetric Load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.6 Maneatis Delay Cell with Replica Feedback . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.7 Self-Calibration Technique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1 Block diagram of a feedback system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.2 Ring Oscillator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.3 Differential CMOS LC Oscillator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.4 Definition of a VCO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.1 Differential buffer stage with MOS symmetric load elements [1], [2], [3] 18
3.2 Symmetric load I-V characteristics, dashed lines show the effective re-sistance of the loads and highlights the symmetry of the I-V charac-teristics [1] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.3 Self-biased replica-feedback current source bias circuit for the differen-tial buffer stage [1] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
x
3.4 Maneatis VCO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3.5 Voltage-controlled oscillator - Wilson and Moon [4] . . . . . . . . . . 22
3.6 2L operating modes of VCO [4] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
3.7 Voltage-controlled oscillator - Wilson and Moon . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
3.8 Voltage-current converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
3.9 Current multiplier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
3.10 ICO - delay stage 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.11 ICO - delay stage 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3.12 Reduction in KV CO due to sub-banding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
4.1 Overall VCO block diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
4.2 Delay stages followed by RC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
4.3 Delay Stage with RP and RN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
4.4 Three Stage Ring Oscillator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
4.5 Delay stage with PMOS load . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
4.6 Three Stage Ring Oscillator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4.7 Effect of variation in supply voltage @ fixed VBIAS - Frequency spec-trum (DFT using hamming window) @ VBIAS = 0 V, . . . . . . . . . 36
4.8 Delay stage followed by resistor and capacitor (Filter effect) . . . . . 37
4.9 High-pass filter effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
4.10 HPF - Effect of varying RB and CB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
4.11 Low-pass filter effect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
xi
4.12 LPF - Effect of varying RB and CB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
4.13 Bias voltage VBIAS variation with VSUP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
4.14 (VDD − 1.1)0.6 + VCTRL Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
4.15 Digital calibration block . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
4.16 Digital Calibration Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
4.17 Resistor tunability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
4.18 VCO - voltage output @ VCTRL = 50mV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
4.19 Frequency spectrum (DFT using hamming window) @ VCTRL = 50mV 50
4.20 Frequency spectrum (DFT using hamming window) @ VCTRL = 50mV 51
5.1 Resistor tun-ability (KFV SUP = R1X
R0) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
5.2 Ring oscillator - adding another stage of RB-CB network . . . . . . . 56
A.1 Manetais VCO with symmetric loads and replica-feedback . . . . . . 59
A.2 Voltage-controlled oscillator - Wilson and Moon . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
A.3 Voltage-current converter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
A.4 Current multiplier - Wilson and Moon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
A.5 ICO - delay stage1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
A.6 ICO - delay stage2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
A.7 Proposed voltage-controlled oscillator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
xii
CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
This thesis focuses on the design and simulation of a power supply insensitive
voltage-controlled ring oscillator. The first section presents the reasons to develop
a ring VCO that has high power supply rejection ratio (PSRR). It discusses the
difference between ring oscillators and LC-VCOs, which have better supply noise
rejection by definition. Section 1.2 discusses some of the relevant, existing research.
Some of the techniques in this thesis are derived from the works mentioned here. The
last section lists the format of the remaining thesis.
1.1 Motivation
Voltage-controlled ring oscillators are used in a variety of integrated circuit ap-
plications because of their ability to generate delays with very high precision at high
operating frequencies. They are extensively used in phase-locked loops (PLLs)in high
performance applications such as clock recovery, clock generation and frequency syn-
thesis. In such applications the VCOs jitter performance can impact the output clocks
timing jitter, thus limiting system performance.
With the scaling of CMOS technology, and enhanced levels of integration more
noise is coupled from the switching of digital circuits. This noise translates to jitter
1
at the the output and directly impacts the signal purity [5], [6]. Consequently, the
design of VCOs that are noise tolerant is vital. In particular, for ring VCOs, supply
noise is a major design concern as the oscillation frequency of a ring VCO is highly
dependent on the supply voltage. This thesis, therefore, is the design of a ring VCO
with complete rejection to power supply noise.
Two principal topologies for the modern monolithic VCOs exist. They are the
ring oscillator and LC-oscillator topologies [7], [8]. The ring oscillator, is composed
of a ring of inverters with a net inversion around the loop as shown in Figure 1-
1. This is achieved by using a chain of odd number of inverters. The frequency of
oscillation is a function of the delay through each stage and the number of stages.
To change the oscillation frequency the propagation delay of each stage could be
adjusted in a number of ways, such as varying the current through each stage of
varying the capacitative load at the output of each stage. The ring oscillator could
Figure 1.1: Ring Oscillator
2
also be implemented using differential signaling by flipping the output of the last
stage as it is fed back to the input of the first stage, as shown in Figure 1-2. In this
thesis differential signaling approach is used, as it helps improve noise performance.
The other class of VCOs, the LC-oscillator,is a subclass of resonant oscillators. The
Figure 1.2: Differential Ring Oscillator
circuit oscillates at the resonant frequency of the inductor and the capacitor, ωo =
1√LC
. In an ideal LC-tank with no resistive losses, the inductor and capacitor oscillate
indefinitely. However, since in practice it is impossible to build lossless passive circuits,
active devices are used to produce negative resistance to cancel out any parasitic losses
in the tank, as shown in Figure 1-3. A simple differential LC-VCO is shown in Figure
1-4.
Figure 1.3: LC-Tank
3
Figure 1.4: LC-VCO
The LC-tank inherently has excellent supply noise rejection since the frequency
of oscillation is a function of only the values pf the inductor ans the capacitor. These
values do no vary with supply fluctuations hence the frequency of oscillation is rel-
atively stable. Also, the LC-tank inherently filters out frequencies away from the
resonant peak, thus improving phase noise performance. However the tuning range of
LC-VCOs is limited compared to the ring oscillator since tuning is achieved by using
a varactor as voltage controlled capacitance, which has limited tuning range.
4
1.2 Previous Work
To suppress the change in frequency of a ring VCO with supply noise, many
methods have been adopted. Some of them use differential structures [9], voltage
regulators [10] and calibration techniques [4]. Others use compensation techniques to
cancel the VCOs intrinsic positive supply sensitivity with additional negative supply
sensitivity circuitry [11], [12].
This thesis, draws comparison between the new proposed approach and the exist-
ing approaches by Maneatis [1], [2] and Wilson and Moon [4].
1.2.1 Maneatis Delay Cell
The Maneatis delay cell [1], [2], [3] as shown in Figure 1-5 relies on symmetric
loads and dynamic biasing to achieve VCOs with superior power supply rejection
and wide tuning range. The concept behind using symmetric loads is that the load
Figure 1.5: Maneatis Delay Cell with Symmetric Load
5
elements should ideally have linear I-V characteristics which helps provide differential-
mode resistance that is independent of common-mode voltage . Since the delay of the
buffer stage is dependent only on the differential mode resistance, it is not affected
by the common-mode disturbances resulting from the supply noise. However since
adjustable resistive loads made with real MOS devices do not maintain linearity
while generating wide frequency range, Maneatis proposes the concept of symmetric
loads which have symmetric I-V characteristics. This symmetric characteristics helps
inhibit the conversion of common-mode noise into differential-mode noise, and hence
achieves high supply noise rejection. Maneatis also uses the concept of replica-bias
Figure 1.6: Maneatis Delay Cell with Replica Feedback
to vary the current in the buffer delay stage to provide correct symmetric load swing
limits . The replica-bias also helps counteract the effect of finite output impedance
6
of the NMOS current tail source to achieve high supply noise rejection as shown in
Figure 1-6.
1.2.2 Self-Calibration
Wilson and Moon [4] employ the concept of self-calibration techniques to design
low-noise frequency synthesizers. They use a digitally programmable VCO as shown
in Figure 1-7, that helps cover wide range of output frequencies while keeping a very
low control voltage to output frequency gain. This is the sub-banding approach to
achieve lower VCO gain that has been proposed for the new architecture as well,
to achieve lower Kvco, and hence lower jitter at the output. The self-calibration
approach helps overcome a significant amount of process variation. This concept of
self-calibration is also incorporated in this thesis as part of future work. The concepts
Figure 1.7: Self-Calibration Technique
of variable resistive loads to achieve better supply noise rejection and self-calibration
to overcome process variations are used in this thesis to develop a novel power supply
insensitive voltage-controlled oscillator architecture.
7
The Maneatis and Wilson and Moon, architectures are further discussed in detail
in chapter 3.
1.3 Thesis Outline
The next chapter deals with general oscillator theory, explaining different oscillator
types and parameters.
The second chapter describes the proposed novel voltage-controlled oscillator ar-
chitecture. The simulation results are also presented in this chapter.
Chapter three discusses the Maneatis architecture, its variations and the Wilson
and Moon architecture in detail.
Chapter four compares the simulation results of the new VCO with those achieved
with existing architectures developed to reduce supply noise rejection.
Finally, Chapter 5 reviews the principal contributions of this thesis and includes
a number of suggestions for future work using the ideas presented herein.
8
CHAPTER 2
OSCILLATOR THEORY
Oscillators have been essential components since Edwin Armstrong discovered
the heterodyne principle, wherein they effect frequency translation by multiplying the
oscillators signal with other input signals. Since then oscillators have been an integral
part of many electronic systems. Their applications range from clock generation to
carrier synthesis, and are one of the most challenging blocks in the design of a PLL.
This theoretical chapter deals with the design of CMOS oscillators, more specifi-
cally voltage-controlled oscillators (VCOs) [7], [8]. It discusses the criteria that must
be fulfilled by a circuit to produce oscillations, introduces the two main types of os-
cillators, the ring oscillator and the LC-oscillator. It further discusses the methods
of varying the oscillators output frequency and finally lists some of the important
performance metrics used to evaluate oscillators.
2.1 Criteria for Oscillation
A simple oscillator produces a periodic output, usually a voltage signal. The
oscillator circuit has no input however it sustains an output indefinitely. This is
possible only if the overall feedback becomes positive in an amplifier. Thus, the
9
behavior of oscillators can be modeled as a feedback system as shown in Figure 2-
1. In the block diagram, block A represents an amplifier and block β represents a
Figure 2.1: Block diagram of a feedback system
feedback network that is connected from the output of the amplifier to its input.
The two conditions that are necessary but not sufficient to make a circuit oscillate
are defined as the ”Barkhausen Criteria”. When using the notations of the model in
Figure 2-1, this criteria can be given as
Aβ = 1 (2.1)
The criteria can be divided into two parts, i.e, the magnitude criterion and the phase
criterion.
2.1.1 Magnitude Criterion
The magnitude criterion for oscillation states that the gain Aβ of the oscillator
loop must be equal to one during standard operation. In practice the loop gain has
to be larger than one for the oscillator to begin to oscillate and for the oscillation am-
plitude to grow. The amplitude will eventually saturate due to device nonlinearities,
reducing the loop gain to one and providing a signal with stable amplitude.
10
2.1.2 Phase Criterion
The phase criterion for oscillation states that the phase shift of the oscillator loop
must be zero or a multiple of 2π. This means that the signals with the same phase
are summed at some point in the oscillator. If the phase shift was an odd multiple of
π, then the signals would have opposite phases and would cancel each other out. In
that case there will be no oscillation.
2.2 Types of Oscillators
2.2.1 Ring Oscillators
Ring Oscillators are a subset of the class of delay based oscillators wherein one
or more delay elements are connected in feedback configuration. A ring oscillator
consists of a number of gain stages in a loop. Figure 2-2 shows the schematic of a
three stage inverter ring oscillator. The oscillation frequency fo of the oscillator can
Figure 2.2: Ring Oscillator
11
be calculated as:
fo =1
3(T1 + T2)(2.2)
where T1 is the delay of the rising edge and T2 is the delay of the falling edge. The
delay varies with change in bias current or supply voltage and hence changes the
frequency of oscillation.
Delay based oscillators have poor phase noise-performance compared to resonator
based oscillators. However, since delay based oscillators do not need an inductor to
operate, they can be implemented using small chip area. Ring oscillators also have
another advantage of high tuning-range. Ring oscillators have a major disadvantage
though, i.e, they are highly susceptive to supply noise, which effects the delay of each
stage and hence the frequency of oscillation.
Thus, in thesis, we discuss a new approach to build the ring oscillator such that it
is completely insensitive to power supply noise. This architecture uses the differential
implementation of delay stages, which help cancel out common-mode noise. Differen-
tial implementations also may use even number of delay cells by simply configuring
one cell such that it does not invert. This flexibility demonstrates another advantage
of differential circuits over single-ended counterparts.
2.2.2 LC-Oscillators
LC-oscillator belongs to the class of resonator based oscillators, which are the most
common topology in radio applications. In resonator based oscillators, the oscillation
frequency is determined by a resonance circuit such as an LC-tank. An amplifier
compensates for the loss in the resonance circuit and keeps a sustained oscillator.
12
Figure 2-3 shows an LC-VCO. Due to the differential architecture and relatively
good phase noise it is one of the most popular oscillator configurations used in fully
differential integrated RF CMOS applications. The LC-VCO contains two major
Figure 2.3: Differential CMOS LC Oscillator
parts, the passive LC tank which determines the frequency of oscillation and the
active devices that compensate the loss in the tank. The LC tank contains an inductor
(L) and capacitor (C). The oscillator will oscillate at a frequency where the reactance
of the inductor cancels the reactance of the capacitor.
The oscillation frequency is given by the equation:
fo =1√LC
(2.3)
In order to vary the frequency of oscillation, the capacitor is often implemented using a
voltage-controlled capacitor (varactor) or an array of digitally controllable capacitors,
13
or a combination of both. The other ways of tuning the frequency are varying the
inductance using MEMS or by changing the bias current.
The LC-VCO is highly insensitive to supply noise fluctuations since the frequency
is a function of discrete components L and C only. However, this thesis intends to
develop delay stage architectures for ring VCOs such that the oscillation frequency is
independent of supply noise fluctuations.
2.3 Voltage-controlled Oscillators
Applications such as clock recovery and clock synthesis, require the oscillators to
be ”tunable”. Tunability means that the output frequency must be a function of
some control input, usually voltage. This voltage could be for example the output of
the loop filter in an analog PLL. In an ideal voltage-controlled oscillator, the output
frequency is a linear function of its control voltage.
ωOUT = ωO +KV COVCONT (2.4)
Where ωOUT represents the intercept corresponding to VCONT = 0 and KV CO denotes
Figure 2.4: Definition of a VCO
14
the ”gain” or ”sensitivity” of the circuit (expresses in rad/s/V). The achievable range,
ω2 − ω1 is called the ”tuning range” as shown in Figure 2-4.
2.4 Oscillator Parameters
Some of the important performance metrics of the voltage-controlled oscillator
are discussed below. These parameters help select the best oscillator for a particular
application.
Oscillation frequency
The oscillation frequency f0 or the fundamental frequency of an oscillator is defined
as the frequency at which the main peak in the oscillator’s output spectrum is located.
Frequency tuning range
The tuning range of an oscillator is defined as the distance between the lowest
and highest output frequencies that the oscillator can produce.
Tuning − range = fmax − fmin (2.5)
Tuning voltage or tuning current range
The tuning voltage(or current) range refers to the range of acceptable voltages (or
currents) that can be applied to the tuning circuitry of an oscillator.
Frequency tuning curve
The frequency tuning curve is a graphic representation of what happens to the
oscillators output frequency as the tuning voltage(or current) is swept through the
acceptable range. It is usually desirable that the tuning curve is monotonic.
15
Phase noise
Phase noise is a measure of the frequency stability of an oscillator. It is defined as
the output signal power at a certain offset fm from the carrier frequency f0 and the
power of the carrier, both within a 1-Hz bandwidth. It is usually given in dBc/Hz.
L(fm) = 10log(P (fm)
P (f0)) (2.6)
Pushing figure
The pushing figure of an oscillator gives the dependence of the output frequency
on the supply volatge. It is usually given in MHz/V.
Pushing − figure =∆f
VSUPmax − VSUPmin
(2.7)
Pulling Figure
The pulling figure indicates how dependent the oscillator’s output frequency is on
the value of load impedance.
Pulling − figure =∆f
RLOADmax −RLOADmin
(2.8)
16
CHAPTER 3
PREVIOUS WORK
3.1 Maneatis Delay Cell
The voltage-controlled oscillator architecture proposed by Maneatis uses a differ-
ential buffer stage with symmetric load elements and self-biased replica feedback, to
have high supply noise immunity, while operating at low supply voltages. In this ar-
chitecture, digital calibration is not employed to achieve supply rejection, unlike the
architecture proposed in this thesis in chapter 3. The concept is that, high supply re-
jection can be achieved with high output impedances. This can be done by cascoding
the load impedances in the delay stages. However, since cascoding is incompatible
with low-voltage circuit design, Maneatis proposes the use of a current source bias
circuit, thus enabling the buffer stages to have high supply rejection without cascod-
ing. Symmetric load elements are also used in the buffer stages to enable supply noise
cancellation.
Differential buffer stage
The buffer stage used, is based on an NMOS source-coupled pair with symmetric
load elements and a dynamically biased NMOS current source as shown in Figure
17
Figure 3.1: Differential buffer stage with MOS symmetric load elements [1], [2], [3]
3-1. The bias voltage of the simple NMOS cell continuously adjusts itself to provide
a supply independent bias current. Since, the output swing is referenced to the top
supply, the current source helps isolate the buffer from the supply and hence, helps
achieve constant buffer delay.
The load elements are composed of symmetric loads i.e, a diode connected PMOS
device in shunt with an equally sized biased PMOS device. These loads are called
symmetric loads because their I-V characteristics is symmetric about the center of the
voltage swing as shown in Figure 3-2. The control voltage, VCTRL biases the PMOS
device and helps generate the bias voltage for the NMOS current source and hence
controls the delay of the buffer stage.
Current source bias circuit
The current source bias circuit as shown in Figure 3-3, helps set the current
through a simple NMOS current source in the buffer delay stage to provide the correct
18
Figure 3.2: Symmetric load I-V characteristics, dashed lines show the effective resis-tance of the loads and highlights the symmetry of the I-V characteristics [1]
symmetric load swing limits and also helps adjust the NMOS current source bias so
that the current is held constant and independent of supply voltage. The current
source bias circuit uses replica of half the buffer stage and a single-stage differential
amplifier. The amplifier adjusts the current output of the NMOS current source so
that the voltage at the output of the replicated load element is equal to the control
voltage. This helps set the correct swing limits for the symmetric load.
3.1.1 Implementation
The maneatis delay cell with symmetric loads and replica-feedback bias generator
was implemented in cadence 130-nm. The VCO circuit was modified by shorting the
differential pair tail nodes of the delay cells. This enables their tail node voltage to be
more or less constant and closer to that generated by the bias generator. Simplified
schematic of the voltage-controlled oscillator is shown in this section Figure 3-4, and
the full schematics can be seen in Appendix-A.
19
Figure 3.3: Self-biased replica-feedback current source bias circuit for the differentialbuffer stage [1]
3.2 Wilson and Moon Calibration Technique - Sub-banding
The self-calibration technique used by Wilson and Moon [4] enables the design
of low-noise frequency synthesizers without compromising on the frequency range
of operation. Since the output frequency of an oscillator covers a wide range of
frequencies for a limited range of input voltage, the gain of the VCO is high. This
leads to hight output jitter and phase noise.
The digital calibration technique is used to make a programmable VCO , which
covers a wide range of frequencies while keeping a low control voltage to output
frequency gain (KV CO). This helps reduce the phase noise and output jitter consid-
erably.
The digital word is generated using a self-calibration algorithm. The process vari-
ations are also compensated for by the self-calibration technique. This sub-banding
20
Figure 3.4: Maneatis VCO
21
technique can also be incorporated in the proposed design to reduce th oscillator gain
KV CO and further improve the noise sensitivity.
3.2.1 VCO Design
The VCO is made up of a voltage-to-current converter (V-I), current multiplier
(IX) and current-controlled oscillator (ICO) as shown in Figure 3-5. The VCOs L-
Figure 3.5: Voltage-controlled oscillator - Wilson and Moon [4]
bit programmability is attained by the current multiplier, which controls the current
flowing into the the ICO. The operating range of the VCO is distributed into 2L
modes. This concept is illustrated in Figure 3-6. One of the operating modes is
chosen using the L-bit control word depending on the desired frequency of operation.
This results in a small output frequency to control voltage transfer function and thus
provides low sensitivity to noise.
22
Figure 3.6: 2L operating modes of VCO [4]
3.2.2 Implementation
The V-I converter, current multiplier and ICO were implemented in cadence 130-
nm, and a five bit control word was used to provide sub-banding. Simplified schemat-
ics of these blocks are shown in this section, and the full schematics can be shown in
Appendix-A. The complete block diagram of the VCO is shown in Figure 3-7. The
building blocks are further discussed in detail in the following subsections.
V-I Converter
The V-I converter consists of a n-channel and a p-channel differential pair as
shown in Figure 3-8. One side of each of the differential pairs is connected VRF which
is equal to half the supply voltage. The other transistor’s gate is connected to VRF or
VLF , based on the output of the comparator. The current from the two pairs depends
23
Figure 3.7: Voltage-controlled oscillator - Wilson and Moon
24
on the voltages VRF or VLF , and finally the summation of the two currents is applied
to the current multiplier.
Figure 3.8: Voltage-current converter
Current Multiplier
The current multiplier is implemented with binary weighted transistors, as shown
in Figure 3-9. The control word used is five bits. The maximum current output of
the multiplier is 31 times the input current.
ICO
The ICO is implemented using three delay stages in cascade. The first stage also
consists of a half-replica buffer to generate the control voltage VCTRL, applied to the
25
Figure 3.9: Current multiplier
gates of the PMOS loads of the following delay stages. The circuit diagram for the
delay stages are shown in Figure 3-10 and Figure 3-11.
3.2.3 Simulation Results
A five bit control word was used to generate 32 operating modes. The multiplied
current for each of these modes was generated using the current multiplier and the
resulting frequency of operation was measured with varying control voltage VCTRL.
VCTRL was varied from 0 to 1.2 volts and the resulting oscillator gain was calculated
for each operating mode. Without sub-banding the KV CO of the VCO would have
been (5.618 GHz - 2.9586 GHz )/1.2 Volts , i.e, 2.216 GHz/V. However, by using the
sub-banding technique the KV CO has been reduced to a few hundred megahertz. This
reduction in the oscillation gain helps reduce the output jitter and reduces the phase
noise of the VCO. The results with sub-banding are shown in the following excel sheet
Figure 3-12. The effect of supply noise on frequency was also reduced considerably,
26
Figure 3.10: ICO - delay stage 1
Figure 3.11: ICO - delay stage 2
27
L
(Mu
lti
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min
Imin
(uA
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min
(G
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Fm
ax
(G
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Ima
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Vm
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(V)
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3.2
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67
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22
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53
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3.4
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0.2
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0.8
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58
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3.6
63
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40
1.2
0.2
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60
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62
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84
0.2
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86
5.7
93
92
37
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77
90
22
53
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14
3.8
61
02
70
1.2
0.2
89
60
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80
68
.37
61
0.1
93
16
7.8
26
12
41
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27
10
02
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3.7
31
34
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30
01
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09
0.1
71
35
6.9
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20
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99
55
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0.7
62
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11
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75
3.8
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17
33
01
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45
4.5
41
60
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53
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25
8.8
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00
4.0
48
64
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68
36
01
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82
0.1
65
15
1.8
90
80
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75
50
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38
26
5.1
91
0
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03
25
4.1
84
14
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43
39
01
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53
9.1
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60
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25
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70
4
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83
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01
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24
3.5
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2.0
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4.6
29
64
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20
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33
4.6
15
40
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6.9
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6
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05
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2.9
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4.3
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50
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20
2.5
05
7
25
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25
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76
75
01
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0.0
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41
2.9
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40
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21
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7
26
06
50
5.1
81
35
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54
78
01
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0.0
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82
5.8
02
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24
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18
6.7
15
2
27
06
75
5.2
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54
81
01
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0.0
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00
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00
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27
16
8.3
93
4
28
07
00
5.2
63
25
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45
84
01
.20
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13
0.0
89
13
8.5
13
50
.05
98
29
.60
56
19
2.7
89
7
29
07
25
5.3
19
15
.52
49
87
01
.20
.20
57
0.0
30
41
4.7
56
70
.05
60
24
.20
21
17
1.4
27
5
30
07
50
5.3
19
15
.52
49
90
01
.20
.20
57
0.0
00
00
.00
00
0.0
00
00
.00
00
17
1.4
27
5
31
07
75
5.3
76
35
.55
56
93
01
.20
.17
92
0.0
30
71
7.1
27
10
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72
27
.80
34
14
9.3
42
9
32
08
00
5.4
05
45
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56
96
01
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0.0
00
00
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11
6.2
16
21
25
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51
33
08
25
5.4
34
85
.61
80
99
01
.20
.18
32
0.0
62
43
4.0
74
10
.02
94
19
.56
52
15
2.6
62
4
Figure 3.12: Reduction in KV CO due to sub-banding
28
as shown below in Table 3.1. However, even better supply rejection is acheived using
the proposed architecture as discussed in Chapter 4.
VSUP (V) Itail KFV SUP Sensitivity1.1 1.2 1.3 (µA) (MHz/V) (percentage/V)
1.3262 1.3245 1.3210 219.72 26 0.661.5723 1.5673 1.5698 259.72 12.34 0.781.8050 1.7985 1.7985 305 32 1.82.0325 2.0161 2.0161 350 81 4.065
Freq (GHz) 2.2421 2.2271 2.2222 412.5 99 4.482.4330 2.4213 2.4213 450 58.9 2.432.6109 2.6041 2.6109 500 33 1.32.7777 2.7855 2.7932 550 77 2.782.9201 2.9480 2.9600 600 200 6.77
Table 3.1: Effect of supply variation on frequency (KFV SUP )
29
CHAPTER 4
VOLTAGE-CONTROLLED OSCILLATOR DESIGN ANDANALYSIS
The VCO, with the overall block diagram as shown in Figure 4-1, is composed
of the voltage-controlled oscillator block, the bias voltage generation block and the
digital calibration block. The VCO, a ring oscillator, consists of three differential
Figure 4.1: Overall VCO block diagram
delay stages connected in a loop. The output of each delay stage is followed by
a capacitor and a resistor before feeding the output to the input of the next delay
stage, as shown in Figure 4-2. The capacitor is used to remove the DC from the output
and the resistor is used to fix the DC of the output to 0.6 volts. This ensures that
30
Figure 4.2: Delay stages followed by RC
variation in the common-mode value of the output, with supply voltage fluctuations,
does not effect the DC value of the input of the next stage. The capacitor and resistor
values are chosen very carefully, to make sure that they do not attenuate the output
signal being fed into the next stage.
The concept is that the slope KFV SUP , i.e, the maximum variation in oscillation
frequency with respect to the worst case variation in supply volatge needs to be
measured and fed into the digital calibration block at VCO start-up. Next the control
voltage VCTRL, for example the output voltage of the loop filter in a PLL, is added
to the VREF voltage in the VBIAS Generation block. VBIAS is generated in this block,
by using the equation 4.1,
VBIAS = (VSUP − 1.1)KFV SUP + VCTRL (4.1)
where, VSUP , is the varying supply voltage. The derivation of this equation is dis-
cussed in detail in section 4.2. VBIAS, the ”tuning voltage”, is then used to vary the
frequency of oscillation of the VCO.
The first section describes the simple VCO core, with VBIAS as the voltage input
and FOUT as the output oscillation frequency. Section 4.2 presents the simulation
31
curves which lead to the derivation of equation (4.1). Section 4.3 discusses the cal-
ibration block in detail. Section 4.4 discusses another possible architecture for the
VCO. Finally, the simulation results are presented and discussed in Section 4.5. Some
of the ideas for the implementation of the calibration and bias generation blocks are
also presented in detail in this chapter.
4.1 VCO Block
The VCO is a ring oscillator and consists of three delay stages connected in a
loop. In the preliminary design the delay stage was implemented in the form of
a source degenerated common-source amplifier with a resistive load RP and source
degeneration resistance RN as shown in the figure 4-3. The complete VCO diagram
Figure 4.3: Delay Stage with RP and RN
is shown in Figure 4-4.
32
Figure 4.4: Three Stage Ring Oscillator
33
However, the frequency of oscillation varies with change in supply voltage. This
happens due to the change in current through the delay stage with supply variation.
Therefore, an additional input is required to tune the circuit to negate the effect of
supply voltage variation.
To this effect, we vary the resistance RP to make sure that the current flowing
through the delay stage in independent of supply fluctuation. Thus, the load resis-
tance RN is modeled as a PMOS with a voltage control VBIAS applied at its gate, as
shown in Figure 4-5. The proposed voltage-controlled oscillator diagram is presented
Figure 4.5: Delay stage with PMOS load
in Figure 4-6.
34
Figure 4.6: Three Stage Ring Oscillator
35
Since the current through a MOSFET in saturation is:
ID =1
2µCox
W
L(VGS − Vth)2 (4.2)
Thus, if VBIAS biases the gate voltage of the PMOS such that VGS remains con-
stant, the current through the delay stage would remain constant, making the oscil-
lation frequency, FOUT supply insensitive. The bias voltage follows a linear pattern
with supply variation as shown in Section 4.2. This helps formulate the effect of
supply fluctuation on the VCO output frequency in the form of the linear equation
(4.1).
The following figure and table show the effect of variation in frequency when the
supply is varied from 1.1 volts to 1.3 volts in linear steps of 0.02 volts, while VBIAS
is fixed at 0 volts. To negate this effect the bias generation and digital calibration
Figure 4.7: Effect of variation in supply voltage @ fixed VBIAS - Frequency spectrum(DFT using hamming window) @ VBIAS = 0 V,
36
VSUP (V) 1.10 1.12 1.14 1.16 1.18 1.20Freq (MHz) 373.33 381.4 390.1 400 411.5 423.33
VSUP (V) 1.20 1.22 1.24 1.26 1.28 1.30Freq (MHz) 423.33 435 446.7 460.3 476.7 491.6
Table 4.1: Variation of frequency with change in supply @ VBIAS = 0 volts
blocks are introduced. These blocks help vary the VBIAS with variation in supply
and hence maintain fixed oscillation frequency, thus enabling the design of the novel
power supply insensitive VCO. These blocks are discussed in detail in the following
sections of this Chapter.
4.2 Filtering effect
In this voltage-controlled oscillator design, each delay stage if followed by a capac-
itor and resistor as shown in Figure 4-8. The capacitor and resistor are introduced
Figure 4.8: Delay stage followed by resistor and capacitor (Filter effect)
37
to remove the DC component of the output signal of the delay stage, and DC bias
it to 0.6 volts before it is fed into the input of the following stage. The values of
capacitor and resistor are calculated with careful analysis. The two effects that need
to be taken into consideration while deciding these values are explained below.
4.2.1 Path from the output of the first stage to the input ofthe second stage:
When following this path, the capacitor CB and resistor RB act like a high-pass
Filter (HPF), as shown below in Figure 4-9. The transfer function of this filter is
Figure 4.9: High-pass filter effect
given in equation (4.3).
VOUT
VIN=
sCBRB
1 + sRB(CB + Cgmos)(4.3)
The VOUT versus VIN characteristics with varying resistor and capacitor values are
plotted as shown in Figure 4-10. From the plot, it can be seen that if R1 and C1
are too low then the output signal gets completely attenuated, and the VCO stops
oscillating.
38
Figure 4.10: HPF - Effect of varying RB and CB
39
4.2.2 Path from the supply to the input of the delay stage:
When following this path, the resistor RB and capacitor CB act like a low-pass
filter (LPF) as shown in Figure 4-11. The transfer function of this filter is given in
Figure 4.11: Low-pass filter effect
equation (4.4). A step input was applied at the supply and the transient response at
the output was plotted, for varying resistor and capacitor values, as shown in Figure
4-12. From the plot it can be seen that, if the resistance and capacitance are too
high it takes longer for the DC of the output voltage to settle at 0.6 volts, since the
settling time is directly proportional to RB and CB.
VOUT
VSUP
=1
1 + sRB(CB + Cgmos)(4.4)
Thus taking the two effects into consideration the resistor value RB was fixed at 10
kilo ohms. Similarly, the capacitor value CB was fixed at 20 femtofarads.
40
Figure 4.12: LPF - Effect of varying RB and CB
41
4.3 Bias Parameters
The complete schematic of the VCO core, with VBIAS as voltage input and FOUT
as the output oscillation frequency is presented in Figure 4-6. The bias values of the
transistors and resistors and capacitors are enlisted in Table 4-2.
RB 10KΩRN 100ΩCB 100f FCN 20f FCP 20f FWM1,P2,P3 10µmWM4,P5,P6 10µmWP1,P2,P3 5µmWP4,P5,P6 5µmLM1,P2,P3 130ηmLM4,P5,P6 130ηmLP1,P2,P3 130ηmLP4,P5,P6 130ηm
Table 4.2: Bias Parameters
4.4 Bias Generation Block
The bias generation block is used to generate the voltage VBIAS that controls the
gate of the PMOS, and thus varies the load resistance. The resistance is varied such
that the current through the delay stage remains fixed, even when the supply voltage
fluctuates. The bias voltage VBIAS was varied, along with the supply voltage and the
simulated results are enlisted in Table 4-3, as shown below. These values were then
plotted with VBIAS as y axis, and VSUP as x-axis, as shown in Figure 4-13.
42
VSUP 1.1 V 1.15 V 1.2 V 1.25 V 1.3 V VCTRL mV freq (MHz)0 26.5 60 86.5 116 0 373.3350 80 110 140 170 50 336.6100 130 160 190 220 100 310
VBIAS (mV) 150 180 210 240 270 150 286.66200 230 260 290 320 200 266.67250 280 310 340 370 250 250310 330 360 390 420 310 236.66
Table 4.3: Bias voltage variation to maintain constant oscillation frequency
Figure 4.13: Bias voltage VBIAS variation with VSUP
43
VCTRL, the voltage from the output of the loop filter, enables the VCO to change
the frequency of oscillation, i.e, it enables the VCO to jump from one frequency curve
to the other as shown in the plot. As VCTRL increases, the frequency of oscillation of
the VCO decreases. The supply voltage VSUP was varied from 1.1 volts to 1.2 volts
in linear steps of 0.02 volts.
It can be seen from the above plot that, the curves are linear. This means that the
slope KFV SUP is constant, i.e, for an increment δVSUP there is a linearly proportional
increase in δVBIAS. Thus, a linear relationship can be derived between VBIAS, VDD−
VREF ; the difference in supply voltage from the reference voltage VREF , KFV SUP and
VCTRL.
4.4.1 Derivation
A common form of linear equation in the two variables a and y is
y = mx+ b
where m and b are designate constants. The constant m determines the slope or
gradient of the line, and the constant term b determines the point at which the line
crosses the y-axis.
The above linear curves, can be defined by a similar linear equation where,
b = VCTRL, (4.5)
m = KFV SUP , (4.6)
y = VBIAS, (4.7)
VBIAS = (VDD − VREF )KFV SUP + VCTRL (4.8)
44
From the above plotted curves, the slope KFV SUP is calculated to be 0.6 V/V. The
reference voltage VREF was fixed at 1.1 volts. Hence, the equation defining the above
plot, can be written as
VBIAS = (VDD − 1.1)0.6 + VCTRL (4.9)
4.4.2 Implementation
The above equation was implemented using an opamp with closed loop gain
0.6V/V and an open loop gain of 10,000. The circuit is presented in Figure 4-14.
where,
Figure 4.14: (VDD − 1.1)0.6 + VCTRL Implementation
R1 = R5 = 600Ω,
R2 = R3 = 1KΩ,
R4 = R6 = 1KΩ,
45
4.5 Digital Calibration Block
The digital calibration block as shown in Figure 4-15 is used to find the value of
KFV SUP . After the VCO is powered up, the input VREF is swept from 0.9 volts to
Figure 4.15: Digital calibration block
1.1 volts in linear steps of 0.1 volts, the supply voltage VSUP is kept constant at 1.1
volts, and the control voltage input VCTRL is kept fixed at 0 volts. Firstly, VREF is
fixed at 1.1 volts, thus generating a bias voltage VBIAS equal to 0 volts. Then the
oscillation frequency of the voltage controlled oscillator is measured.
Next, VREF is changed to 1.0 volts and the same process is repeated. The frequency
of oscillation is measured. However, since this frequency from the one obtained when
VREF was 1.1 volts, the resistor in the opamp is varied till the time the oscillation
frequencies of the VCO in the two different steps match.
The same steps are repeated for VREF equal to 0.9 volts. Finally, the KFV SUP
is measured by divided the value of the varied resistor by 1000, as explained in the
following eqautions.
The above discussed steps are presented in the form of a digital calibration algo-
rithm as shown below in Figure 4-16.
46
Figure 4.16: Digital Calibration Algorithm47
The opamp with resistor R1, R2, R3, R4, R5 and R6 is shown below, in Figure
4-17. The transfer function can be written as:
Figure 4.17: Resistor tunability
VOUT = (VCTRL
R6+VSUP
R4)(
1
R1+
1
R5+
1
R3)(
11R6
+ 1R4
+ 1R2
)− VREF
R3(4.10)
if, R1 = R6 = R (4.11)
and,R2 = R3 = R4 = R5 = R0 (4.12)
VOUT = VCTRL + (VSUP − VREF )R
R0(4.13)
Thus,KFV SUP =R
R0(4.14)
If, R0 = 1000Ω (4.15)
KFV SUP =R
1000(4.16)
Thus, by varying R to maintain the same frequency of oscillation with supply
variation, we can calculate the required slope KFV SUP .
48
4.6 Simulation Results
The proposed voltage-controlled oscillator discussed in this chapter was imple-
mented in cadence 130-µ m CMOS technology. The bias control voltage was varied
along with supply variation, according to the proposed bias voltage generation equa-
tion 4.1. The supply voltage was varied from 1.1 volts to 1.3 volts in steps of 0.05
volts, and the voltage-controlled oscillator output was plotted.
4.6.1 Simulation @ VCTRL = 50 mV
Figure 4.18: VCO - voltage output @ VCTRL = 50mV
49
The frequency of each of the above waveforms in the plot was calculated, and is
presented below in Table 4.4.
VSUP (V) VBIAS (mV) Freq (MHz)1.1 50 337.3251.15 80 337.0311.2 110 337.4701.25 140 337.1091.3 170 337.710
Table 4.4: Variation of frequency with change in supply @ VCTRL = 50 mV
Figure 4.19: Frequency spectrum (DFT using hamming window) @ VCTRL = 50mV
Inference: The variation in frequency with supply voltage is almost
negligible.
50
4.6.2 Simulation @ VCTRL = 200 mV
Similarly, at VCTRL = 200 mV, the frequency of oscillation at different supply
voltages is calculated and is presented in the table below.
VSUP (V) VBIAS (mV) Freq (MHz)1.1 200 265.9281.15 230 265.7671.2 260 265.7781.25 290 265.9891.3 320 266.102
Table 4.5: Variation of frequency with change in supply @ VCTRL = 200 mV
Figure 4.20: Frequency spectrum (DFT using hamming window) @ VCTRL = 50mV
Inference: The variation in frequency with supply voltage is almost
negligible.
51
4.7 Conclusion
Since the change in frequency of oscillation with variation in supply voltage is
almost negligible, we conclude that the voltage-controlled oscillator presented in this
chapter is power supply insensitive.
52
CHAPTER 5
FUTURE WORK AND CONCLUSION
This chapter summarizes the design and results of the voltage-controlled oscillator.
It then presents some future extensions using the ideas presented in this thesis. In
the end, the major contributions of the presented work are highlighted.
5.1 Design Summary
This thesis presented a novel architecture for the design of a ring voltage-controlled
oscillator based on a series of coupled differential delay stages that can provide better
supply noise immunity. VCOs are very critical components in a PLL, and are a
major contributor of output jitter. They experience large supply noise because of
digital switching activities , impact the clock’s timing jitter and thus limit system
performance.
In particular, for ring VCOs, supply noise is a major design concern as the oscil-
lation frequency of a ring VCO is highly dependent on the supply voltage. In case of
LC-VCOs the oscillation frequency is a function of the discrete inductor and capac-
itor values and thus have high supply noise immunity. However, inductors are large
consumers of silicon area, and are thus less suitable for very large scale integration.
53
The proposed work generates a bias voltage VBIAS to control the gate of the
PMOS load of the differential delay stage. In order to negate the effect of the supply
fluctuation on the VCO, VBIAS is varied accordingly, to ensure a supply independent
bias current through the delay stage. The variation in VBIAS with supply voltage
followed a linear pattern and hence this behavior was characterized in the form of a
linear equation. The bias voltage, VBIAS, was generated in the bias generation block.
The control voltage, VCTRL, which is the input to the VCO, was used to change the
frequency of operation of the VCO. One of the key elements to generate the bias
voltage was to find the slope of the linear curves, i.e,KFV SUP . For the simulated
design the slope was found out to be 0.06 V/V. The bias voltage was generated using
an operational amplifier and a couple of resistors with closed loop gain of KFV SUP .
However, due to temperature and process variations, the frequency curves may
shift or change. This may lead to a change in slope KFV SUP . In order to find the
slope KFV SUP , of the linear curves, a digital calibration algorithm was presented.
This algorithm calculates the new slope, anytime there is a change in the frequency
curves due to temperature, supply or process variations. To incorporate the changes
in the slope, VBIAS was generated using an operational amplifier, some fixed resistors
and some tunable resistors. The slope KFV SUP , is modeled as a ratio of two resistors.
Hence, any change in KFV SUP , is reflected by varying the value of the resistor used
in the bias generation block.
Some ideas to vary the resistor value are presented in the next section. The
voltage-controlled ring oscillator presented in this design operates from 236.6 MHz to
373.3 MHz. Some ideas to increase the frequency of operation are also presented in
the next section.
54
5.2 Future Extensions and Major Contributions
5.2.1 Resistor tun-ability
To incorporate changes in KFV SUP with temperature and process variations can
be achieved by using a digitally controlled array of resistors, as shown below in Figure
5-1. A control word, controlling the switches, can then be generated in the digital
calibration algorithm. Lower sensitivity to the variations can be attained by using a
higher number of resistors and a wider control word.
Figure 5.1: Resistor tun-ability (KFV SUP = R1X
R0)
5.2.2 Increasing the frequency of operation
The major contributor to the delay of the VCO To increase the frequency of
operation of the VCO, is the RB-CB network. It acts like a high pass filter and
55
introduces phase delay of approximately 90 degrees. Since we have three stages of
this network it adds a delay of 270 degrees. However, if we add another stage of RB-
CB network, the phase shift will wrap around and produce only 90 degrees (360-270
degrees) of phase delay, as explained below in Figure 5-2 . This may help the VCO
oscillate at a higher frequency.
Figure 5.2: Ring oscillator - adding another stage of RB-CB network
The oscillation frequency may also be increased by increasing the bandwidth of
the individual delay stage. This will help reduce the delay of each stage at the
operating frequency of oscillation. If the frequency of operation is much lower than
the bandwidth, only the switching delay of the inverter will contribute to the delay,
and the delay contributed by RC of the inverter will be neglible.
5.2.3 Sub-banding
The sub-banding technique as discussed in chapter 3, can also be implemented in
this design to reduce the oscillator gain of the proposed voltage-controlled oscillator.
This further helps reduce the output jitter and improve the supply noise rejection. An
additional control word can be generated in the proposed digital calibration algorithm,
56
to facilitate sub-banding. Thus digital calibration to generate VBIAS and the sub-
banding technique, can together help design a highly robust and supply insensitive
VCO.
In summary, this thesis makes a valuable contribution by proposing a simple
supply insensitive architecture for the ring VCO. It helps model the effect of supply
variation , in an uncomplicated linear expression , and generates a bias voltage to
negate this effect. It also discusses the concept of digital calibration to help counter
process and temperature variations.
57
APPENDIX A
COMPLETE CIRCUIT SCHEMATICS
58
Figure A.1: Manetais VCO with symmetric loads and replica-feedback
59
Figure A.2: Voltage-controlled oscillator - Wilson and Moon
60
Figure A.3: Voltage-current converter
61
Figure A.4: Current multiplier - Wilson and Moon
62
Figure A.5: ICO - delay stage1
63
Figure A.6: ICO - delay stage2
64
Figure A.7: Proposed voltage-controlled oscillator
65
BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] J. G. Maneatis and M. A. Horowitz, “Precise Delay Generation Using CoupledOscillators,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 28 , No. 12, December1993.
[2] J. G. Maneatis, J. Kim, I. McClatchie, J. Maxey, and M. Shankaradas, “Self-Biased High-Bandwidth Low-Jitter 1-to-4096 Multilpier Clock Generator PLL,”IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 38 , No. 11, November 2003.
[3] J. Carnes, I. Vytyaz, P. K. Hanumolu, K. Mayaram, and U.-K. Moon, “Designand Analysis of Noise Tolerant Ring Oscillators Using Maneatis Delay Cells,”IEEE International Conference on Electronics, Circuits and Systems, 2007.
[4] W. B. Wilson, U.-K. Moon, K. R. Lakshmikumar, and L. Dai, “A CMOSSelf-Calibrating Frequency Synthesizer,” IEEE Journal of Solid-state Circuits,Vol.35, No.10, October 2000.
[5] A. Hajimiri, S. Limotyrakis, and T. H. Lee, “Jitter and Phase Noise in RingOscillators,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 34, No. 6, June 1999.
[6] B. Razavi, “A Study of Phase Noise in CMOS Oscillators,” IEEE Journal ofSolid-State Circuits, Vol. 31 , No. 3, March 1996.
[7] B. Razavi, Design of analog CMOS Integrated Circuits. 2001.
[8] A. Aktas and M. Ismail, CMOS PLLs and VCOs for 4G Wireless. 2004.
[9] I.-C. Hwang and S.-M. Kang, “A self-regulating VCO with supply sensitivity of¡0.15February 2002.
[10] M. Brownlee, P. Hanumolu, K. Mayaram, and U.-K. Moon, “A 0.5 to 2.5GHzPLL with Fully Differential Supply-Regulated Tuning,” IEEE InternationalSolid-state Circuits Conference, February 2006.
[11] T. Wu, K. Mayaram, and U.-K. Moon, “An On-chip Calibration Technique forReducing Supply Voltage Sensitivity in Ring Oscillators,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 42 , No. 4, April 2007.
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[12] P.-H. Hsieh, J. Maxey, and C.-K. Yang, “Minimizing the Supply Sensitivityof a CMOS Ring Oscillator Through Jointly Biasing the Supply and ControlVoltages,” IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 44 , No. 9, September2009.
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